Community Organizations Condemn Extreme Voter Suppression Bills Under Consideration by the Arizona State Legislature

January 21, 2021

Contact: Emily Kirkland, emily@progressarizona.org, 646 623 5271

At 2 pm today, the Senate Government Committee will hold a hearing on SB1069, a bill introduced by State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita that would purge hundreds of thousands of people from the permanent vote by mail list. The bill is one of a series of voter suppression bills currently under consideration by the Arizona state legislature, alongside: 

HB2369 (Representative Kevin Payne): would require early ballots to be notarized, essentially establishing a poll tax 

HB2370 (Representative Kevin Payne): would eliminate the permanent vote by mail list entirely 

HCR2001 (Representative John Kavanagh): would undermine the citizen ballot initiative process by imposing a “single subject rule,” making it easier to use a technicality to challenge a ballot measure

These proposals come just weeks after an armed attack on the US Capitol that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. That attack was sparked by lies about the election, which multiple sitting Arizona federal and state lawmakers helped to spread.

In response to the proposed bills, a coalition of Arizona community organizations and voting rights groups issued the following statement: 

“These bills are blatant attempts at voter suppression, part of a larger pattern of attacks on our democratic norms. Many of the lawmakers pushing these bills are the same lawmakers who spread lies about the 2020 election. Others have moved to limit participation in the legislative process by barring remote testimony during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Arizonans, we are determined to stop these bills. Together, we must uplift and reaffirm our state’s commitment to democracy.”